The Power of Seclusion
by Chrmdpoet
Summary: Regina is tired of trying to prove herself to Henry and fighting for his love, so she gives him what he wants. She sends him to live with Emma and isolates herself from the town. When Henry begins to miss her, everyone tries to convince Regina to take him back, but she refuses and remains in seclusion. Could Emma be the only one who can break through her walls? EPIC ONE-SHOT.


**A/N: Hello again, everyone! For those of you not following my fic, A Thin Veil, here is a bit of information for you about this one-shot. One of my readers, Velace, won this one-shot as a prize for being the first and only to guess a plot reveal before it happened.**

**I told Velace that I would write an SQ one-shot based on any prompt of her choosing, and this is the prompt I received: "****Regina's tired of fighting for Henry's love, so she gives up and sends him to live with Emma. Everyone keeps trying to get her to take him back because he starts missing her, but she refuses."**

**So, here is my attempt at fulfilling that prompt. This one-shot, obviously, is dedicated to Velace. **

**I wrote this one-shot to the soundtrack of "Perfect" by Hedley. Try it out. Enjoy! XO-Chrmdpoet**

The Power of Seclusion

Regina pressed her face into her pillow as tears leaked steadily from her chocolate eyes and seeped into the soft material. She had spent nearly three weeks this way, crying herself to sleep as the stinging words of the most precious person in her life resounded angrily in her mind. Henry's voice was like a jagged echo in her head each night, a constant reminder of who she once had been and who the people of Storybrooke, her son included, would only ever allow her to be. She was doomed to carry the weight of her past with her forever, and not even the little boy she'd loved for ten years, the one she'd soothed and sang to, the one she'd fed and cradled, the one she'd cared for above all things and others, would offer her the opportunity to let go of the past and redeem herself.

_"I found my real mom!"_

_ "I'm your mother." "No you're not."_

_ "Do you really think I'm capable of doing something so horrible?" "Of course, you're the Evil Queen."_

_ "Henry, I rescued you because I love you." "So I'm a prisoner because you love me."_

_ "No one's gonna want to come over here. They're scared of you."_

_ "I don't want to be you."_

_ "You really are the Evil Queen. I don't wanna see you again!"_

No, not even her son believed in her. Not even her own child could see even an ounce of good in her, and maybe…maybe he was right. This thought rolled around in Regina's mind as she sobbed into her pillow, heart aching as it fractured again and again. After all these years, after all the pain and the loss and the darkness, she was curious as to how it continued to beat at all.

Loneliness swam sickeningly through Regina's veins. She could feel it every part of her as Henry's words continued to echo in her mind. She dragged herself up out of her bed and stepped over to the mirror hanging on her bedroom wall. As she stared into her reflection, Regina looked past her bloodshot eyes, past the dark circles cradling them, past the downward turn of her lips, past the wet streaks that marred her cheeks, and all she saw was everything that Henry claimed her to be.

All the horrible things she'd ever done flashed through her mind, and her entire body shook as those vivid images did nothing but confirm the thought. She was dark. She was…broken. She was evil, and everyone was afraid of her. Everyone hated her, including her son. She nodded as she continued to stare into her reflection, accepting that this was her fate. She was forever fated to be alone, to be nothing more than the Evil Queen—not a friend, not a lover, not a beloved Mayor, not a mother…nothing. She was nothing.

Henry didn't want her, and he didn't need her anymore. He had Emma. Emma, his precious birthmother, his beloved Savior…Emma. That's who Henry really wanted. He'd said the words himself countless times, both to her face and to others. She hadn't wanted to hear it at first, but it was all she _could _hear now, his words never offering her any respite as they constantly haunted her. And no matter how many times she had tried to tell him that she loved him, had tried to prove it to him, he wouldn't hear it. He wouldn't accept it. He wouldn't believe it.

And why would he? He had an entire town of people backing him up, supporting his claims with their own. He no longer saw her as a mother or even as a person. She was the Evil Queen…a fated-to-defeat fairytale character in his precious book, a character and nothing more.

Regina placed a hand over her trembling, stammering heart, clutching it through the pain as Henry's most recent words, spoken just that morning, blew through her system like a violent explosion.

_"If you really loved me, you'd let me go."_

She took in a heavy, stuttering breath as her eyes steeled over in her reflection, resolve turning her features cold and firm, because maybe Henry was right. Maybe letting him go was the best thing for him. Maybe giving him what he truly wanted was the only thing that would show him that she could be more than the Evil Queen, that she _was _so much more than a wicked character in a children's book. And what Henry truly wanted was Emma.

Regina wiped shaky hands over her cheeks to dry away her tears as she stepped over to her bedside table and picked up her cell phone. It was time for her to let go. She was tired of fighting, tired of always trying and failing to prove herself, to redeem herself. No one would ever allow her to do so. It was an effort in vain, and Regina? She was so…exhausted, so tired of this endless battle to be better, to be what Henry wanted, when she knew she never would be.

In that moment, as she dialed a familiar number, Regina felt nothing. She was hopeless. She was numb. She had truly given up.

_"Hello?" _As the voice of the woman she'd fought with for so long now filtered into her ears, Regina could only hang her head and try to force her tears to keep from slipping forth again. She couldn't find her voice so she just breathed into the phone, hoping that her voice would come to her soon, would help her get through this as quickly as possible, but it didn't come. _"Regina? Is something wrong? Are you okay?"_

Emma's voice was suddenly a bit strained and panicked, but Regina couldn't even bring herself to note, let alone contemplate, the concern she heard. All she could feel in that moment was her own despair, her own desolation—her heart ached so terribly as she tried and failed again to find her voice. Would her life always be nothing more than disappointment and pain? Was she doomed to always feel this way? She believed, truly believed, that she was.

_"Regina? You're freaking me out. Are you okay? It's late, but I'm coming over. Okay? Regina, I'm coming over."_

Emma didn't even wait for an answer from Regina, not expecting to receive one anyway, before she hung up. Regina heard the click sound in her ear signifying the end of the call, but she still didn't move nor did she speak. She just sat there, her phone pressed to her ear, tears falling unbidden down her cheeks, and her hand still clutching at her chest.

She wasn't sure how long she sat there that way, but the next thing she knew, the sound of the doorbell was ringing through the large mansion, and Regina knew the moment had come. She couldn't put it off any longer. She cleared her throat, sat her phone down on the bed, and slowly rose to a shaky stand. She didn't even bother to wipe her cheeks this time, knowing it was pointless, as she made her way from her bedroom and down the grand staircase.

When the door swung open, Emma was greeted by the heartbreaking sight of a tear-stained Regina. Emma's heart ached in her chest at the look in Regina's eyes. Her eyes were bloodshot and tearful. She just looked so broken, so hopeless. Emma shuffled awkwardly from foot to foot, unsure of what to say or do. She and Regina had never had the best relationship, and though she cared about the woman more than she'd ever admitted or probably would ever admit aloud, she knew that clear boundaries existed between them, so she resisted trying to comfort the woman. Instead, she just tried to get some answers, even though her fingers were itching at her sides to touch Regina, to place a hand on her arm soothingly or even pull the woman in for an embrace. That wasn't something they did, and she knew that it wasn't going to happen now or probably ever, so she just started talking.

"Regina…" she said tentatively, hovering just outside the large door to 108 Mifflin Street. "What…what happened?"

Regina averted her gaze, unable to look at the woman that her son wanted, the woman she would never be in Henry's eyes. She would never be a hero to her son, a savior, or even…a mother; at least, never again. She cleared her throat painfully again as it scratched with every attempted usage of her voice, but she managed this time to finally get her words out.

"Ms. Swan," she croaked, keeping her eyes fixed on the floor. "Come in." She moved aside to allow Emma to enter, which the blonde did quickly, her hands wringing together in front of her making her anxiety in that moment obvious. Emma just wanted to know what the hell was going on, and what could possibly have happened to have upset Regina so deeply.

As soon as Emma was inside, Regina closed the door behind her and asked her to wait in the foyer. Emma nodded her agreement and watched as Regina slowly made her way up the stairs and out of sight. She didn't have a clue what was happening, but she did as Regina asked and just stood awkwardly in the foyer, waiting for some answers; waiting for something to happen.

* * *

Regina took a heavy breath before pushing open the door to Henry's room. She could see his small frame curled up in a lump under the large blankets of his bed in the deep shadows of his room. She flicked on the light and wasn't surprised to see that the brightness now flooding the room did nothing to stir her son. He always had been a heavy sleeper.

Regina's heart hammered forcefully in her chest as she stepped further into the room and made her way over to Henry's bed. She wanted nothing more in that moment than to crawl into the small bed beside her son and just hold onto him, hold onto him forever, but she couldn't do that. She couldn't continue to keep him close to her if he didn't wish to be there any longer. She had to do this for Henry, and…for herself. She had to stop deluding herself into believing that she could ever be what he needed or wanted in his life.

She knew she should be gentle with him, but it hurt it too much. She was afraid that if she let herself to get too close to him now, to touch him or hold him, she wouldn't be able to go through with this. So, she just cleared her scratchy throat again and loudly said, "Henry."

He didn't stir. Not surprising. "Henry!" she tried again. "Henry, wake up."

He moved this time, groaning as he threw a hand up to shield his eyes from the light, his eyelashes fluttering as he tried to focus on the person standing next to his bed and beckoning him to wake. When his eyes finally adjusted, he pushed himself up into a sitting position and sleepily asked, "Wha—what's going on?"

A wave of heartache blasted through Regina's body again, but she held herself steady and kept her voice detached. "Henry, you need to get up," she said clearly. "Get up and pack your things."

Henry's brows furrowed as he tried to comprehend what she was saying. Pack his things? What did she mean? He glanced to his window to see that it was still dark outside, and his clock then quickly confirmed that it was indeed still the middle of the night. "What do you mean? Why do I need to pack? Are we going somewhere?"

"No, Henry," Regina answered him, her voice still emotionless and as detached as she could manage with the torrent of pain and anguish ripping through her soul. "_We _aren't going anywhere. _You _are. You are going to go and live with Emma now. So, pack your things. A few outfits and your toothbrush should be enough for now, and I will pack the rest for you tomorrow and send it home with Emma."

"Wait," Henry said, his mind unable to process what was happening or if he wasn't actually just dreaming this, "I don't understand. You're sending me away?"

Regina closed her eyes tightly, willing her tears away. She refused to break down. She'd had enough with weakness, and she wasn't going to allow her son to see her broken over this. "I'm giving you what you want," Regina snapped out, taking a heavy breath through her nose and blowing it out slowly through her mouth. When she felt confident enough that she wasn't going to cry, she opened her eyes again and said, "You don't want to be here, and I'm not going to make you be any longer. So, pack your things. You can go with Emma. She's waiting downstairs."

It seemed to suddenly click in Henry's mind that he wasn't dreaming and that this was all actually happening, and Regina's stomach bottomed out as she saw his bright brown eyes instantly light up as he asked, "Really? You mean it?"

"Really," Regina bit out, unable to keep her voice from cracking on that single word. "Hurry up, and meet us downstairs." As soon as the words left her lips, she turned on her heel and left the room as quickly as she could before she was made to witness the eager way Henry had probably leapt from his bed to pack.

* * *

It seemed like Regina had been gone for hours when she finally reappeared in the foyer where Emma was leaning against the wall, arms crossed, and eyes fixed on the floor. Emma's head quickly snapped up, though, as Regina appeared and motioned for her to follow her into the kitchen. She did without hesitation, still conflicted about the tears she'd seen on Regina's face and the way her voice had sounded torn and fragile when she'd invited her in.

Once in the kitchen, Regina made herself busy by brewing two cups of coffee and handing one over to Emma while placing the other to her own lips. Emma took the coffee gratefully as she, too, was still a bit groggy from sleep, and asked again, "Regina, are you going to tell me what's wrong? Why did you call me?"

Regina took a moment to enjoy the bitter taste of her coffee as it slid down her throat before she looked up and locked gazes with the blonde in front of her. "I'm sending Henry to live with you."

Emma practically spewed her coffee all over the kitchen as Regina's words caught her completely off guard. "I'm sorry, what?" she choked out, frantically searching the brunette's eyes for some sort of sign that she was joking, but all she found was steely resolve and the slightest hint of pain. "Regina, what do you mean you're sending Henry to live with me?"

"Surely even you can understand simple English, Ms. Swan," Regina quipped, averting her eyes and focusing on the black liquid in her cup instead. "I didn't stutter, and I meant exactly what I said. I am sending Henry to live with you."

"Okay, yeah, I got that," Emma said, still trying to make sense of something that didn't seem to make any sense at all. This was Regina. Regina Mills—the hard-headed, stubborn as hell, woman who had fought her tooth and nail to keep the very kid she was now voluntarily shoving into her hands. Nope…this didn't make sense at all. "But why?"

"It's what Henry wants," Regina answered her simply as if her reasoning should have been plain as day, as if sending away her kid in the middle of the damn night made any sense at all. "It's what you want. It's what everyone wants."

"Regina…"

"No, Ms. Swan," Regina barked, preventing Emma from speaking at all. "I don't need to hear anything you have to say. You wanted Henry, and now you may have him. He doesn't want to be here, and I'm not going to force him to be any longer. He doesn't want me, and he doesn't need me anymore, and quite frankly, I'm tired. I'm tired of fighting with you and with Henry and with everyone. I'm tired of trying to prove something, to prove myself, to all of you, especially to Henry. None of you are ever going to allow me to be anything other than the Evil Queen, and I've accepted that. Henry doesn't want my love. He doesn't even believe me capable of it. So, I'm giving him what he wants, and what he wants is a life without me—a life with you."

"Regina," Emma interjected again, "He's your son."

Regina swallowed thickly, choking on her next words even before they managed to make it up her throat and onto her tongue. "No," she whispered sadly, "he's not. He's yours. That's what he believes, and I'm not going to fight him on it anymore."

Emma's heart was pounding wildly in her chest. She simply couldn't believe that this was happening. She had never known Regina to give up or give in on _anything_, especially when it came to Henry, and to hear her so openly speak of her own hopelessness was nothing less than heartbreaking. It ate at Emma's flesh and dug at her soul. She wanted to say something, wanted to tell Regina that she was wrong, that Henry just needed time, that everyone did. But she couldn't make her voice work, and even worse, she knew that if she voiced the words, she would only sound like a hypocrite. She herself, to her own dismay, had said awful things to and about Regina, about her not being good enough for Henry. As many times as she'd wanted to take it back, though, she never had. In that moment, all she could think was that she should have. How in the hell had it come to this?

She never thought Regina would give up.

"Regina…" Emma started again, but she was quickly interrupted as Henry suddenly burst into the kitchen, a smile on his face and his backpack full to bursting and bouncing on his back.

"Hi Emma!" He practically shouted, his joy obvious in that moment, and Emma couldn't help but want to smack the kid for his complete disregard of his mother's feelings. She swallowed the jagged lump in her throat and offered him a tight smile as she said, "Hey kid."

She tried to catch Regina's gaze, but the brunette was actively avoiding it. This, none of this, felt right to Emma. It was true that she had wanted Henry and that there had been a time when she'd honestly felt that Henry would have been better off with her than with Regina, but she'd been wrong. She knew that much now. She knew that Regina truly loved Henry and that she was the best mother for him, and it honestly pained her when Henry would say terrible things about Regina, but like a coward, she'd never corrected him. She'd never told him to stop; at least, not since those first few nights she'd spent in Storybrooke. She should have put an end to this ages ago, and yet, she hadn't, and now here she was, a dream of hers coming true, and it just felt like poison. The look on Regina's face, and the heartache she'd heard in the brunette's voice, was all that she could see in her mind and all she could hear in her head and all she could feel in her heart. This didn't feel good at all.

"Are you ready to go?" Henry asked excitedly. Emma tried again to get Regina to look at her, but she wouldn't; so, she simply resolved to try and speak to the woman the next day. She needed to figure this out, but it was late now and Henry needed to get to bed. So, she nodded softly to the boy and said, "Yeah, let's go, kid."

Emma's heart ached for Regina as Henry didn't even bother to say goodbye to her or acknowledge her at all. He just yelped with joy before ripping out of the kitchen and out of the mansion to climb into Emma's waiting yellow bug. Once he was out of the room, Emma looked over to Regina and quietly said, "We're not done talking about this."

"That's where you're wrong, Ms. Swan," Regina answered her, finally locking gazes with her once more and the tears in her eyes nearly took Emma's breath away, "because I assure you. We are quite done."

She then walked out of the kitchen and quietly up the stairs, not even bothering to make sure that the blonde left. Emma watched her go before choking on her own tears which were now itching in her throat and swimming in her eyes. She quietly exited the mansion and walked down the path to her car with a single thought echoing in her mind.

_What the hell just happened?_

* * *

The next day, Emma tried and failed again to get Regina to talk to her. She'd gone over to the mansion on her lunch break to find that Regina had completely gutted Henry's room. Everything he owned was packed neatly into boxes by the front door of the mansion, and when Emma followed Regina up to Henry's room to check that everything was packed, she was shocked to see the state of it. The room was completely empty but for the stripped bed and box spring sitting on the floor and the empty dresser and bedside table. Even his posters had been taken off the walls and packed. The closet was entirely empty as well. It looked almost as if no one had ever lived in the room at all. It was unsettling to say the least.

"Regina, you don't want to keep any of Henry's things here?" Emma asked, completely shocked by all that she was seeing. "What if he wants to stay a night or two or over the weekend?"

"He won't," was the clipped reply that Emma received, and though she tried to press Regina about whether something had happened between her and Henry, about whether or not Regina was okay, about whether or not Regina was sure about all of this, she was given no answer. She was met with only silence.

It seemed Regina wasn't budging on this, so she accepted that she wasn't going to receive any answers and just carried Henry's things, box by box, to her cruiser and left. All Regina seemed to want was to be left alone, and Emma wasn't going to deny her that much; at least, not when those deep, chocolate eyes were so full of pain, pleading with her to drop it.

So she did.

And Regina was, for the first time in ten years, completely and utterly alone.

* * *

The first week without Henry was total hell for Regina. They hadn't been close in a long time, but she still felt his absence as if it was a second skin. She wore it every day, and it suffocated her as she moved through her daily routines, alone in a giant house with no one to love and no one to love her in return.

She missed him every day. She missed the little things—cooking for him, chatting about his day at school, checking his homework, tucking him in. He hadn't been receptive to many of those things in years, but she had still cherished them. She even missed the less favorable things—such as reprimanding him for breaking something or mouthing off and cleaning up his messes and dirty shoe prints in the foyer.

His absence was everywhere. The house was alive with it, and Regina was dying beneath the weight of it, but she held strong. She maintained her resolve despite the fact that it was killing her. She didn't contact him or try to see him, and he certainly didn't try to see her either. She reminded herself that this was what he wanted, and that this was what was best.

It was the only thing that got her through each painful, heart-wrenching second of each lonely, deafeningly quiet day.

* * *

Emma felt like she was walking around in a perpetual daydream. It had been a month since Regina had called her in the middle of the night, a month since Emma had shown up at 108 Mifflin Street filled with worry, and a month since Regina had thrust Henry into Emma's arms and told her to take him. A month. 31 days. And every single day felt like a dream…or maybe more, at times, like a nightmare.

It wasn't that she didn't love having Henry around or being able to do all the things with him that she'd never gotten to do when he was little, like tucking him in every night and waking up to have breakfast with him every morning in their pajamas and reminding him to brush his teeth and do his homework and making sure that he was fed, because she did. She did love all those things. It wasn't that. It was Regina.

She hated the entire situation simply because of Regina, but then when she thought of Regina, she realized that she also hated the situation, in part, because of Henry. She hated Henry's complete disregard of Regina. She hated that not once in a _month _had he asked about her. She hated that not once in a month had he tried to call her or see her or expressed any concern for her whatsoever. She hated that not once in a month, not _once, _had he mentioned his mother at all. It wasn't right. Emma knew that Henry could be selfish. It wasn't unnatural for a kid to be that way. Kids tended to see the world as if it revolved around them and only them, and that as long as they were happy, then nothing else mattered. It was a distorted way of looking at the world, and Emma hated it. Maybe it was because she'd never known the bliss, even as a child, of not having to care about anything outside of herself. She'd seen, firsthand, just how cruel the world could be to anyone and everyone, both as a kid and as an adult. Henry was deluded, caught up in his fairytale world and mindset where everything was perfectly black and white and there was no such thing as gray; a mindset that was unfortunately perpetuated by Emma's own parents and most of the rest of the town.

He was wrong. They all were. Emma knew that, and she hoped that he, that all of them, would figure it out someday, preferably sooner rather than later, because Henry's mother, Regina? Well…she was the definition of gray. But she was also wonderful.

She was both terrible and wonderful at the same time, as so many people were, even those (maybe especially those) who claimed to be nothing but the latter. She wished everyone could just wake up and figure that out, because she hated this. She hated that Regina was alone and lonely and had absolutely no one, unless you counted Emma's own silent support of the brunette, which you really couldn't considering the fact that no one was really aware of it. Sure, Emma had supported Regina time and time again, had saved her from angry mobs, and had defended her where no one else would, but for the most part, everyone considered her on the side of _good_, which, of course to them, meant that she was irrefutably opposed to Regina.

That was a blatant untruth. And Emma knew that she should have been voicing as much from the start rather than letting herself get roped in by her parents, letting herself get caught up in her reunion with them, and letting herself be distracted and silenced in an effort to please them and keep them comfortable and happy. She'd never let anyone silence her before or make her feel uncomfortable voicing her thoughts and emotions. She'd never let anyone change her or walk over her before, and yet here she was—silent about her support of and her care for one Regina Mills.

She didn't like it, not at all, and that dislike only furthered the truth in her mind and in her heart that she was done being silent.

Emma didn't have a clue, though, of how she was going to get through to Regina. The woman had become a complete shut-in the past month. She rarely emerged from the mansion except for the few occasions of buying groceries or a quick stop at Granny's. She hadn't tried to call or see Henry. She hadn't shown up at the station to pester or mock Emma like old times. She hadn't shown her face or opened her mouth much at all in 31 long days, and it was eating Emma up inside like a cancer.

She needed an opportunity to break down the walls and get through to Regina. She needed an opportunity to show her that she didn't have to be alone anymore, and that she could be more than the Evil Queen, that Emma herself saw her as so much more.

But how?

* * *

Regina didn't know what had happened to her. She didn't feel like herself anymore at all; then again, had she ever truly known who she was? All her life she'd been what other people had made her to be—her mother, Leopold, Snow, Rumplestiltskin—the list was endless. She didn't know if she could just be Regina, because she didn't know who Regina was.

She'd spent the first entire month of Henry's absence just trying to get used to being alone again, just trying to figure out how to be on her own and only herself—not someone's enemy, or someone's boss, or someone's mother. Just Regina. She taught herself new recipes, discovered the sickeningly addictive nature of primetime television soaps and reality shows, tended to her beloved apple tree and even expanded her garden to include a variety of herbs, flowers, and vegetables, and experimented with various arts and crafts. She discovered she had quite a knack for painting and while it calmed and soothed her to become lost in the images in her head and sketch and paint them onto canvas after canvas, she'd quickly put an end to the hobby when she realized that her entire guest room (transformed into a craft room) had quickly become littered with paintings of her absent son's face and, surprisingly, of Emma as well.

Her DVR had become her best friend as she spent her nights with inventive new dinners and recorded episodes of _True Blood _and _Grey's Anatomy. _She started the latest episode of _True Blood _as she settled onto the couch in her living room with her dinner in her lap and watched as the supernatural drama bled onto the screen.

Halfway through the episode, she scoffed at her television set and mumbled aloud to herself, "Of course they'd all be fawning over the blonde." She rolled her eyes as Sookie Stackhouse juggled her many potential suitors, and scoffed again. "What the hell is so special about her?"

When the episode finished, she took her dishes to the kitchen to wash and put them away before returning to the sitting room. Her chest ached as she briefly thought about the blonde in her own life that everyone fawned over, including her own son (correction: _Emma's son_), but quickly shook her head to clear the thought away and began a new episode.

She knew she wouldn't sleep much that night. She rarely ever did anymore.

* * *

Emma's opportunity to break through to Regina presented itself in the third month of having Henry. Henry had managed to make it through nearly ten weeks of Regina's absence in his life without so much as a mention or a telephone call. In fact, he hadn't seemed to miss the woman at all, which of course set Emma's teeth on edge. How could he just dismiss his own mother so easily?

As much as she loved being Henry's mother, she wasn't the one who had been there for him his entire life. That was Regina, and Henry never even acknowledged as much. He saw her only as the Evil Queen, and everyone, sans Emma, had been perfectly willing to accept that mindset and even encourage it. It was seriously twisted, and Emma hated every minute of it. Without even realizing it, she had come to resent her son for it. She had come to resent her parents for it. She had come to resent everyone for it, even herself, and it made her completely and utterly miserable.

It didn't help that she constantly felt incomplete, like there was a giant hole in her heart and in her life where Regina had once been. There was no one there to challenge her anymore, to banter with her, to make her want to be more and better, no matter the stimulus. It actually took her breath away to realize how much she missed having Regina around on a daily basis, having her around at all. She hadn't really seen or spoken to Regina in the three months she'd had Henry, except for a few times that she'd had to stop by Regina's place to get her to sign some old documents from when the brunette had been Mayor.

She'd tried, she'd _really _tried, in the beginning. The first two weeks, she'd tried to contact Regina and had even swung by the mansion on more than one occasion, but every single time, Regina would just shut her down and send her away. Eventually, she'd just given up even though it pained her to do so, but she just didn't know what to do anymore. She wasn't sure if she had ever really known what to do or what to think when it came to Regina Mills. All she did know was that she missed her, and that realization gave way to an even deeper one—the realization that Emma cared, _really _cared, about Regina, and that maybe that care that she had went a lot deeper than a desired friendship or a partner for sarcastic, witty banter, or even a respected colleague. In fact, Emma was beginning to wonder if everything she'd felt for the brunette in all the time she'd known her hadn't always been just a little more than she was willing to realize—something a little more like attraction, a little more like romance, a little more like…love.

Nearly ten weeks of Henry living with her, and there hadn't been a single issue. He'd seemed happy and carefree, and then that tenth week happened, and everything changed. Everything changed, because for the first time in almost three full months, Henry mentioned Regina. And Emma's opportunity to break down Regina's walls smashed into her like a speeding truck, and the impact was shocking, yes, but damn her if it wasn't the most exciting and the best damn pain she'd ever experienced.

Henry got the flu. Yup, the whole nine yards—body aches, fever, vomiting, and to top it all off, the world's worst and whiniest attitude Emma had ever experienced from the kid (which was seriously sort of saying something). He was downright rude at times, which Emma tried to be understanding about because she knew the kid was feeling horrible, but it was seriously grating on her nerves. Everything she did to try and soothe him or make him feel even the tiniest bit better was met with only rejection and a fierce whining that she wasn't doing it right.

His soup didn't taste right. His bath wasn't the right temperature. The rag she wetted for his head was too cold or too warm. The blankets she provided were too scratchy. She wasn't tucking him in the right way. She didn't take his temperature the way she was supposed to. She didn't sing the right songs or read the right stories. She didn't crush his crackers the way he liked or rub his back in just the right way when he had to throw up. She'd gotten Sprite for his stomach when he was supposed to have Ginger Ale. Nothing was right. Nothing she did was good enough, and eventually, she just exploded.

"Do you want me to call your grandma?" Emma asked him as he whined and rolled over in the bed, pulling his covers over his head.

"No," he mumbled, his voice muffled by his blankets.

"Well then what do you want, Henry, because apparently I can't do anything right?" Emma snapped, mentally berating herself for not being able to keep her cool. She kept reminding herself in her head that Henry was just sick and it was making him act this way, that it wasn't anything personal against her or the way she parented him, but it was hard to do. It was hard to keep from feeling like a total idiot with him, to keep from feeling like she just wasn't enough for him in that moment. It just sucked all around.

"I want my mom!" he shouted, throwing the covers off of his head, his pink cheeks only deepening in color as he glared at Emma.

"Well, I'm right here, and I'm trying to do whatever you need, but nothing I do seems to help!" Emma shouted right back at him.

"Not you!" he yelled even louder, pushing to sit up and the sudden movement had him instantly bending over the side of the bed to empty the contents of his stomach into the bucket on the floor. When he was finished, he swiped his sleeve across his mouth, which made Emma cringe, and croaked, "Not you. I want my _mom_!"

Emma gasped as the words spilled from his lips, not because she was offended, but because it was the first time she'd heard Henry even mention Regina in months, let alone refer to her as his mother. It actually made her heart swell in her chest and joy burst through her cells as he said, "She always knows how to take care of me when I'm sick. She makes my soup just right and rubs my back until I feel better and she sings me our special song, and she NEVER EVER gets me Sprite to drink. She always gets Ginger Ale, and she always makes me feel better."

Emma realized in that moment that she had a perfect opportunity to impart some wisdom to her kid, and though she wanted to be gentle with him about it, she knew that sometimes, the only way to really get through to people, especially children, was to give them a hard dose of reality. So, she sucked in a breath and said, "Well, I guess you should have thought about that before you spent every day telling her that she was evil and that she wasn't your mother and that you didn't want to see her anymore."

She watched as her words hit Henry like a slap to the face and she hated herself in that moment but she knew that the kid needed to hear it and he needed to hear it in a way that wasn't sugar-coated or twisted to make him feel like the way he'd treated Regina hadn't been that bad (because it was) or that he hadn't been the wrong (because he definitely had been). Children sometimes needed to be knocked down a notch or two so that they could realize that there's a boundary, that there's a reason that they are children and adults are adults, and Henry? Well, he'd been walking around Storybrooke like he was king for quite some time now, and it didn't sit right with Emma. She loved the kid, but the way he talked sometimes and the way he interacted with people was disconcerting and disrespectful. He rarely respected his elders and he constantly meddled in adult issues and business even though he couldn't fully understand them. And yeah, maybe Regina wasn't the model person (at least, not in her past), but she had earned Henry's respect. She'd been his mother his entire life and had always taken care of him. Sure, she'd been strict, but with a kid like Henry, it was practically a mandate for parenting. He was always sneaking out, mouthing off, and acted like he was entitled to everything and everyone.

And it needed to stop.

"Why are you being so mean?" Henry snapped at her, his bottom lip trembling as he tried to fight off his tears.

Emma sighed heavily and said, "I'm not being mean, Henry. I'm being honest, and you need to hear this. The way you treated Regina—it wasn't right. She is an adult and you are a kid, and you need to learn how to respect that."

"But she…she…she's the Evil Queen!" he barked out, and Emma could only roll her eyes, because of course that was the only thing he could think of to say. He'd been laying on that argument for so long that it had become like a personal mantra of his, and at this point, it just sounded desperate and sad considering he had only just been begging for the very woman he condemned as evil.

"No, she's not," Emma told him, shaking her head in disappointment at her son. "She _was _the Evil Queen, a long, long time ago, and Henry, you don't even know what her life was like then or what she went through. I'm not saying that any of what she did was right, but the truth is that you don't know the whole story, and do you know what happens when people make assumptions without knowing the whole story?"

He pouted but shook his head, waiting for an answer, which Emma happily gave. "They end up hurting people. You need to learn that the world isn't black and white, Henry. It isn't just good or evil. I know you like to think that it is, and I know that many of the people in Storybrooke think that way, too, but I know better and so should you. The world isn't a fairytale. It isn't a storybook. It's full of people, real people, and every single person, even you and even me and even your grandparents, have both good and evil inside them. No one is purely good or bad. Everyone is both. Regina has done a lot of bad things, but she's also done a lot of really great things, too, right? All of those things that you just told me she did for you—would someone evil do things like that?"

Tears were fully streaming down his cheeks now as he shook his head in answer. "Exactly," Emma told him with a nod. "You need to show some respect and stop acting like you've got it all figured out, because trust me, kid, you don't. Nobody does. And you don't get anywhere in life by treating people like crap, especially the people who have done nothing but love you, like Regina has. Okay? Stop calling her the Evil Queen. She isn't that person anymore and she hasn't been in a very long time. She's your _mother_. And yes, she lied to you about the Curse and it hurt you, but Henry, she was scared. Her life would have been in danger if the truth had come out, and it was. You saw the way people went after her when the Curse broke. You even begged me to help her, but then you just turned your back on her, kid. She was trying. She was _really _trying, and you made her feel exactly the same way you felt before—hopeless and alone."

Henry completely fell apart at those words. He crawled into Emma's lap and buried his head in her neck, sobbing loudly and forcefully as she stroked his fevered neck and back. "I miss her," he gasped into Emma's neck, the words cracked and muffled.

Emma gulped as she held him and listened to him cry out his regret for how he had treated his mother. "I know, kid," she whispered to him, planting a soft kiss in his hair, and then she told him something she hadn't admitted to anyone other than herself. "I miss her, too."

* * *

Excitement and anxiety both coursed through Emma's veins as she stepped onto the porch of 108 Mifflin Street. She hoped that this was going to be the day that she would finally break through to Regina. She wanted the woman back in her life, and she wanted her back in Henry's. She just wanted Regina to come out of her self-constructed shell and rejoin the world, to banter with her or even insult her, to march around the town like she owned it and glare at Mary Margaret. She didn't care what the woman did. She just wanted Regina.

When the door swung open, Emma's breath hitched in her throat. Regina was just as beautiful as ever, still dressed to the nines despite the fact that she rarely ever left the mansion. She crossed her arms and stared at Emma expectantly, her eyebrow arched in that way that had always made Emma's insides squirm, but now only made her tingle deliciously. Emma couldn't breathe as she took in Regina, because it was the first time she'd seen the brunette since coming to terms with her feelings, and well…it was intimidating. So, she just stood there, awkwardly rocking on the balls of her feet and staring shamelessly at Regina.

"Ms. Swan, are you just going to stand there gawking all day or does this intrusion actually have a purpose?" Regina asked, and Emma nearly moaned in pleasure at hearing Regina's sarcastic drawl paired with that incredibly sexy and devilish smirk. God, she'd missed that. She'd missed everything about her interactions with the brunette, even the more painful and hurtful ones.

Emma didn't even realize that she hadn't answered Regina after countless continued minutes of just staring at her, but the realization came swiftly when the door of the mansion suddenly slammed in her face. As she stared at the door, she couldn't help but blush at her own idiocy before raising her hand to knock on the door again. It swung openly almost instantly and Emma received the same glare she'd only just been drooling over.

"Um, sorry, Regina," she said sheepishly. "I just…well, I…"

"What do you want, Ms. Swan?" Regina snapped out, completely cutting off the blonde.

Emma wasn't entirely sure how to answer, because honestly? That was a damn loaded question. There were so many things that Emma wanted in that moment, and many, _many _of them involved the very brunette who just so happened to be asking. At the same time, though, Emma knew that too many of those things would be entirely too inappropriate to even consider bringing up and would probably only result in the door being slammed in her face again, so she quickly blurted the only thing she could think of. "Henhsfevr!" she rushed out, and instantly blushed as she realized that not a single bit of what she'd said had been even slightly comprehensible.

"Excuse me?" Regina asked, rolling her eyes, because no one in their right mind would have had a clue as to what that strange, jumbled mess of a sentence had been. "Try again, dear. I'm afraid I don't speak Uneducated Idiot."

Ouch. That stung. Then again, Emma thought, the woman sort of had a point in that moment. She quickly cleared her throat, blushing furiously, and repeated herself clearly this time. "Henry has a fever."

Emma clearly recognized the flash of concern that shot through Regina's eyes before the brunette quickly schooled her features and coldly asked, "And?"

"And…uh…he needs you."

"I'm afraid not, Ms. Swan," Regina answered with a clear bite to her voice. "You are his mother now. I'm sure even you are capable of providing fluids and rest. It isn't terribly difficult, dear. Now, if you'll excuse me…"

"He misses you!" Emma quickly blurted out again before she could get another door to the face. She couldn't believe that Regina had dismissed her so quickly after hearing of Henry's condition. She had been so sure that Regina would crumble and come running, but to receive this reaction? It only further broke Emma's heart, because it meant that Regina truly had given up. "He says I do everything wrong, and that you always make his soup just right and rub his back the right way and sing him your special song or whatever. It doesn't matter, because he only wants you. He said his _mom _always makes him feel better."

Pain flashed through Regina's eyes this time, and her bottom lip trembled only a second before her features snapped back into their cold expression and she huffed out a heavy breath. She was desperate to get Emma Swan off of her porch and out of her life again, desperate to be deaf to anything involving Henry because it only made her hurt. It made her ache in ways that robbed her of breath. This…it was too much. Sure, Henry would say that he missed her or wanted her when he was sick because she had always been there for those times, but what would happen once he'd gotten well again? He'd be right back on the Evil-Queen bandwagon, wanting nothing to do with her, and skipping off into the revolting sunset with the Charmings and their Savior daughter. No, Regina wasn't going to put herself in that position again. She didn't want to hurt that way anymore or ever again. She'd lost too much already.

She cleared her throat roughly and said, "I assure you, Ms. Swan, that Henry does _not _miss me or want me. He may think so now, while he feels ill, but you will see. Once he is well, I will be nothing more than an evil, distant memory. So, run along and tend to _your _son. I have things to do that don't involve your _Charming _self. Goodbye, Ms. Swan."

And with that, Emma was met with the door again, her heart sinking into her stomach and burning with a fire that melted it to ash. This definitely had not gone as planned.

* * *

Regina had been wrong about Henry. Once the boy was well again, his attitude concerning Regina remained as it had been when he was sick. He missed her, and he no longer avoided saying as much to anyone and everyone who would listen. In fact, everyone in the town had noticed the change in him as he sulked around, no longer his laughing, buoyant self. He would ask around about his mother, but no one had seen or heard from her as she rarely ever left the mansion, which he had been shocked to hear about. It only made him feel guiltier about all the cruelty he'd selfishly treated Regina with and all he wanted anymore was to take it back. It seemed, though, that he might never get the chance.

Henry sat on a stool at the counter in Granny's. His head was resting lazily in his hand as he swirled his spoon absentmindedly in his hot chocolate. Emma sat next to him doing the same. Ruby thought they looked adorably similar in that moment as she watched them from behind the counter, but her heart ached for the sadness in both their eyes. She knew that Henry had been missing Regina the last few weeks, and though Emma certainly hadn't said as much to anyone aloud, she also knew that the blonde had been missing Regina as well. Ruby wasn't blind. She had always been able to spot the underlying tension between Emma and Regina; in fact, the overwhelming smell of the pheromones wafting off of the two any time they'd been in the same room and going head to head with each other had been enough to make Ruby dizzy. Sometimes, her heightened senses could be a serious pain.

She walked over to the sulking mother and son and tapped the counter in front of Emma. When the blonde looked up her, sad, emerald eyes shone with regret, and Ruby smiled sadly at her. "Have you tried talking to her again?"

Emma glanced over at Henry, but the kid seemed to be completely absorbed in his mindless spoon-stirring, so she turned back to Ruby and said, "Yeah, but it's no use. She won't talk to me. It's like…I don't know. It's like she's just completely given up, like she's not even Regina anymore. I mean, Regina is definitely still there—smartass remarks and all—but she's different. There's no real fire to her anymore, no fight left. She won't even give me the time of day, not even to fight with me, which let me tell you, I could use a good dose of right about now. Say what you want about Regina, but the woman knows how to keep a place lively. Everything is just boring without her. No offense."

Ruby laughed at that and said, "None taken, and I know what you mean. Regina could scare the hair off a cat, but there was never a dull moment with her around."

"It's my fault," Henry's quiet voice suddenly chimed in. "She doesn't come around anymore because of me, because of the way I treated her."

"Henry…" Emma sighed out, unsure of how to proceed, so she just laid a comforting hand on his arm and hoped it would be enough.

"What if she never wants to see me again?" he asked, his voice cracking as tears swam in his eyes, and both Emma and Ruby ached at the pained tone. "What if she hates me?"

"Hey, come on," Emma said, rubbing his arm. "She doesn't hate you."

"Yeah, Henry, you know better than that," Ruby chimed in. "Regina loves you."

"No she doesn't," Henry said just as sadly, "and I don't really blame her." And before Ruby or Emma could say anything in protest, the boy had jumped from his stool and ran from the diner. Emma looked to Ruby and sighed, offering her a sad smile before collecting her jacket and throwing some money on the counter. She waved a quick goodbye and took off after her kid.

Ruby watched the blonde go and she couldn't help but feel like she should help them somehow, and then it hit her. Maybe Regina just needed to talk to someone that she didn't automatically associate with the loss of her son or her own downfall. Ruby was sure that Emma herself served as a bit of a sore spot for Regina, so maybe she could help by taking Emma's place and trying to get the former Mayor to talk to her instead. Or, like Emma, she could just end up with a door in her face. Either way, it never hurt to try.

* * *

When Regina opened the door to find Ruby Lucas standing on the other side, she was genuinely taken aback. In the past four months, no one had shown up on her doorstep except Emma Swan, and she'd made it very clear to the blonde that she neither desired nor cared to have visitors. Furthermore, it wasn't as if Ruby had ever been a friend to Regina. Sure, their encounters had always been amicable, but she certainly had never considered Ruby a friend and she was certain that Ruby had never seen her as one either. So, Regina was utterly confused to find the tall brunette on her doorstep with a giant smile and holding out a bag of food.

"Hi Regina!" Ruby said joyfully, which again, took Regina by surprise. She eyed the waitress skeptically, arms crossed and eyebrow arched as was her trademark, and cautiously said, "Ms. Lucas…"

"Sorry if I caught you at a bad time," Ruby said with that same giant smile, so big and unnatural in fact that it was actually beginning to seriously disturb Regina. "I just noticed that you hadn't been out much lately, and I thought I'd bring by one of your favorites from the diner—grilled chicken and broccoli on rice pilaf," she said as she held up the bag for Regina to see.

Regina just stood there, staring at Ruby as if the woman had two heads. Because well…this entire encounter just seemed so strange. Since when did people go out of their way to do something nice or thoughtful for her? They didn't. Thus, Regina was entirely confused.

"Did you…did you already eat?" Ruby asked tentatively, lowering the bag back down to her side.

Regina seemed to snap out of her stupor then and quickly shook her head before saying, "No, I haven't eaten yet."

"Great!" Ruby exclaimed, extending the bag to Regina who actually took it this time. Regina clutched a hand around the bag and said, "Thank you, Ms. Lucas. That was very thoughtful of you."

They stood there awkwardly for a moment, just staring at each other before Ruby bit the bullet and asked, "Could I come in for a bit?"

"Why?" Regina asked, narrowing her eyes at the woman and wondering what kind of trap this was, because surely it was a setup. No one ever did nice things for her just out of the _goodness _of their hearts.

"Well I thought we could talk," Ruby told her, now looking nervous as she stood there feeling exposed and vulnerable on Regina's front porch. Seriously, did anyone ever make it past the threshold anymore? Emma certainly hadn't. Then again, Ruby thought, no one else had probably even cared to try. It only made her feel guilty for not having come sooner. She'd never really had any issues with Regina other than the woman's feud with Snow, but that now seemed like the distant past (because well, it was). Besides, even if the blonde wouldn't admit it, Ruby knew that Emma had a thing for Regina, and Emma was her friend. She wanted this to work out for her if it meant seeing the blonde happy again, and honestly…Regina as well.

"About?" Regina asked, still too cautious to agree to let the taller brunette into her home.

"You know, just stuff…" Ruby said, internally smacking herself for how stupid she sounded in that moment. Regina only arched her eyebrow again and remained a silent barrier between Ruby and the inside of the mansion. "Fine," Ruby huffed when she realized that Regina wasn't going to be that easy to win over. "I thought we could talk about Henry. He misses you, Regina. He wants to be in your life again."

Regina's eyes widened at that before turning cold almost instantly. She shoved the bag of food back into Ruby's arms and snapped out, "Good day, Ms. Lucas," before slamming the door in Ruby's face.

Ruby groaned and called out to Regina one last time through the door. "Emma misses you too, you know…" And with that she shook her head and walked away.

Regina's heart exploded in her chest as she leaned heavily against the inside of her door. Ruby's final words had hit her like a sledgehammer, knocking the wind completely out of her. Emma missed her…

Regina tried to swallow the feelings that were desperately trying to bubble up to the surface, but there, in the quiet, lonely stillness of her home, Regina could admit to herself that she missed the blonde, too.

And she'd never stopped missing Henry.

* * *

As the fifth month rolled around, Emma thought it would be a good idea to have Henry begin seeing Archie again for regular sessions, which both agreed to easily. She was tired of seeing Henry so depressed, even though she herself hadn't been much better, and she just wanted him to be happy again; maybe therapy was the key. She had even considered having a few sessions with Archie herself, but she knew where that would lead—she'd probably end up admitting to Archie that she was in love with Regina (yes, she had come to realize that she was definitely in love with Regina), and she just wasn't ready for anyone to know that yet; not when everything was so messed up.

What Emma didn't know, though, was that Henry's little visits with Archie would do nothing but stoke the flames of Regina's already burning denial of everything and everyone that existed outside of her quiet little world, the entirety of which existed within the boundaries of her home. In fact, Henry's new flair for constantly telling anyone and everyone who would listen about just how much he missed his mother began to take its toll in spades, resulting in a major domino effect on half the town. And it all began with Archie. Well, technically, it began with Emma and then Ruby, but few even knew about the encounters that both had had with Regina; so Archie was really the one that tipped the scale, and to Emma's great surprise, everyone followed his example.

* * *

Regina had to be going mad. She was seriously questioning her sanity, because surely, _surely, _the residents of Storybrooke, those who had always condemned her as nothing more than the Evil Queen, were not _actually _showing up on her doorstep one by one over a series of several weeks to try and convince her to come out of her shell. Surely, she was dreaming, or as she suspected…she'd gone mad.

Regardless, they continued to come.

Only a few weeks passed after Ruby's strange appearance on her doorstep before Archie came knocking as well. Regina had stared him down as he'd spouted off some psychobabble, I-got-my-degree-from-a-Curse assessment of Henry's "recent despair" and how it would be good for him if Regina could spend a little time with him. He then went on, much to Regina's dismay and aggravation, to inform the woman that a little time outside the home would be good for her as well. She'd simply sneered at him and then slammed the door in his face.

Then came Kathryn.

The blonde went on and on about how she missed Regina, because they had really been friends before everything blew up after the Curse was broken and that she'd like to be friends with Regina again. Regina had actually felt a twinge in her chest with those words, a longing for someone to be there for her and with her, a longing for a friend, but as soon as Kathryn continued on to say that maybe Regina could bring Henry by for dinner sometime, just the three of them, Regina's heart went cold again. She rolled her eyes, and the next thing Kathryn knew—_SLAM! _

Then came Granny. _SLAM!_

Then Belle, though of course Gold hadn't accompanied her. She'd spent a lot of time in the library with Henry and couldn't help but notice how sullen he'd been lately. _SLAM!_

Then David, which really surprised Regina, but she'd given him the same treatment as everyone else. _SLAM! _

Then came a few people that Regina didn't even recognize. She didn't even let them get a word out before—_SLAM! SLAM! SLAM! _

And then…of course…came the sniveling ball of _goodness _herself, Mary Margaret Blanchard, better known in Regina's mind as _that-idiot-Snow-White. _

When Regina opened the door and saw Mary Margaret standing there, she instantly blurted out, "Oh God No!" and slammed the door right in the fairest-of-them-all's face.

"Regina," Mary Margaret called through the door. "Regina, please stop shutting everyone out. I know we have no right to reach out to you after everything, and yes, there is some bad blood between us, but we are trying now."

Regina rolled her eyes dramatically at that and thought, _Oh, like I had been trying all those months? No one cared when I tried, and yet now, NOW, you all want a chance? Pathetic._

Besides, she knew that none of the people who had shown up on her doorstep had actually been there for _her. _No, they had come on behalf of Henry, and well…that only made Regina hurt more.

When Regina said nothing, she heard Mary Margaret's heavy sigh through the door before the small woman said, "If you won't come out for any of us and you won't come out for Henry, would you consider coming out for Emma? I know you never hated her as much as you pretended to, and Regina…she cares about you. I can't say that I understand it fully, but she even gave _me _a lecture the other day about how nobody is purely good or evil, and well…she was right. I want to be better, and I think that you do, too. I'd like us to try to stop with this feud, and maybe we can never be family, and maybe never even friends, but I'd like to try to at least be better."

Regina toiled over those words for a long time. Had Emma really argued on her behalf? She guessed she shouldn't have truly been surprised considering that she'd known the blonde to do it several times before, but she hadn't expected it after all this time of no contact, after giving everyone exactly what they'd all wanted for so long. It made her heart swell in her chest to think of the blonde lecturing Snow White of all people about morality, and not only that, but more in favor of Regina than not.

Regina hadn't allowed herself much time to contemplate her feelings for Emma, but after seeing the way so many of her paintings had been focused around the blonde and the way Emma's emerald eyes had shone with such hope every time she'd shown up on Regina's doorstep, the brunette had become well aware that she certainly did feel something for Emma Swan. She just wasn't entirely sure what that something was.

Mary Margaret sighed heavily again and said, "Okay, Regina. I'm going now, but please…think about what I said. Henry misses you, and…and so does Emma."

Regina stayed by the door for a long time, even after Mary Margaret had left, her head filled with images of a certain blonde and her heart so conflicted that she could hardly breathe.

* * *

Regina was tending to her garden, humming softly to herself as she dug her hands into the soft soil. It had been close to two weeks without any unwanted visitors, which Regina was entirely grateful for. She had feared for the survival of her door if it would have had to endure another of her signature heavy slams. So, it was a good thing that everyone in Storybrooke had finally seemed to take the hint and decided to just let her be.

At least, she thought they had. That was until this day, in particular, of course. As she was positioning a few new seeds into the hole she'd only just dug, she was startled by a loud rustling sound followed by a high-pitched yelp, then a heavy thud, and finally a shouted curse of "Son of a bitch!"

Regina rolled her eyes, huffing her annoyance as she took in the sight of Emma Swan lying flat on her back after having tried and failed to climb over the fence and into Regina's backyard sanctuary. She'd made it over, yes, but not without falling flat on her ass first. "Ms. Swan," Regina drawled as she stood and crossed her arms over her chest, glaring at the blonde who was still on the ground. "What the hell do you think you are doing in my garden? You do realize that this is trespassing, yes?"

"Yeah, well I'm the Sheriff, and I'm not about to arrest myself," Emma grunted out as she painfully pushed her way to her feet to face the glaring brunette. Emma held her back and winced a bit as she walked over to Regina. "I needed to talk to you and I didn't want to deal with another door slamming in my face. I didn't actually expect you to be out here, though, so it kind of worked out pretty great, except for the whole falling on my ass thing. That sucked."

"Do you have a point, Ms. Swan, or shall I go ahead and kick you out now?" Regina asked as she continued to glare at Emma.

"If you were going to kick me out, you would've done it already. Instead, you're standing here asking me about my point, which I do have by the way. Like I said, I need to talk to you," Emma told her, now planting her hands on her hips and facing Regina head on.

Regina noticed the fierce determination in Emma's eyes and knew that she wouldn't be getting rid of the blonde anytime soon, and it startled her to realize that part of her was actually okay with that. Part of her…no, maybe all of her, wanted Emma to stay. She wasn't about to tell Emma that, though.

"Save your breath, Emma," Regina said. "I don't need another lecture about how much Henry misses me or needs his soup and his favorite song. I don't need you to tell me that I'm his mother or that I should let him come home. This isn't his home anymore, and _you _are his mother. I don't understand the issue. I give everyone in this town exactly what they wanted, including you and Henry, and suddenly everyone is acting as if I've done them some disservice, begging me to leave my home and come into town again, see Henry again. Even your undyingly annoying mother showed up on my doorstep to remind _me _of all people that there's no such thing as purely good or evil. The audacity of some people, honestly! So no, I don't need to hear whatever it is you think you need to say. You can just climb your way back over the fence and leave me to my gardening. I want nothing from any of you, except to be left alone."

Emma only stood there grinning like a fool as Regina rambled at her. When the brunette finished, she looked at Emma quizzically, completely taken aback and confused by the enormous smile planted firmly on the blonde's lips. When Emma said nothing, only continuing to grin at her, Regina huffed and stomped her foot, growling out, "What the hell are you smiling about?"

"You called me Emma," the blonde said, still grinning like an idiot.

"And?" Regina asked, arching an eyebrow at her. "That is your name, is it not?"

"It is," Emma answered her, her grin fading into a wicked smirk, "and damn if it doesn't sound good coming out of your mouth."

Regina's eyebrows shot up and disappeared into her hairline at that statement. "Excuse me?" she asked, doing her best not to stumble over her words.

"I didn't come here to talk about Henry," Emma told her, still smirking. "I know that everyone's been showing up here to try and get you to see Henry again, but I don't think that's what you want to hear. I don't think that's what you _need _to hear."

"Oh?" Regina asked, chuckling mockingly at the blonde. "And what makes you think you have any idea what I want or need?"

"Because I know you, Regina," Emma said, taking a step toward the brunette, and then another until they were right inside each other's space, something they used to do more times than could be considered purely confrontational or even platonic. "I know you better than anyone in this town. You want someone to want _you_, not for gain and not in order to please Henry, but just for _you_. You want to feel wanted and needed…loved."

Regina stumbled with those words, her jaw dropping a bit as she stared furiously into those emerald eyes so close to her own. She wouldn't admit it out loud right then, but she had missed this. She had missed the fiery dynamic between herself and the blonde. She had missed Emma.

"You don't…that's not…" she tried, but she couldn't form a fully coherent sentence as her thoughts jumbled and tangled around inside her head. Her heart hammered wildly in her chest, because Emma was right. She was right about everything. All those things she'd said…they were exactly what Regina wanted. How had she known?

"I know because you and me…we're the same," Emma told her, her voice softening to the point of affection as she stepped even closer to Regina so that they were sharing the same minute space of air. "To be wanted, to be needed—I want those things, too. Only, Regina…"

Emma took a deep, steadying breath as she tried to prepare herself for the confession she was about to make, hoping only that she didn't end up more hurt than she had been before she even came here. She was done with despair. She was ready for love, ready for joy, just ready…and she wanted to start today, right now.

"I…I want those things from you," she told the brunette. "It took me a long time to realize it, but you're the one that I want. You're the only one that I want. I've hated these last six months without you. I've hated not having you around. It's literally been killing me, but I was afraid to tell you how I felt. I was afraid that you'd reject me, and maybe you will, but I also realized that you felt the same way as me—lonely and just wanting to be needed and wanted and loved. Well…I'm here, and I'm telling you that you are. You are wanted, because I want you. You are needed, because I need you, and you are loved, because I—"

"Emma," Regina whispered, sucking in a breath as she prepared for the words that she knew were about to slip through the blonde's lips and straight into her soul.

"I love you," Emma finished, her emerald eyes so full of hope and sincerity in that moment that it greatly overwhelmed Regina. The brunette felt dizzy as she let Emma's words wash over her and then before she could even catch her breath, Emma's lips were on hers. It was a soft, barely-there brush of lips, a gentle pressure that was all too quick before it was gone, and it had completely and utterly rocked Regina to her core.

She stood there, completely shell-shocked and feeling Emma's words in every part of her. Someone loved her. Someone wanted her. Someone needed her. And it was purely because of her—not because Emma wanted something from her or was acting on behalf of someone else, but because she truly loved Regina just as Regina and nothing more. It was the best feeling Regina could ever remember feeling. She was so overwhelmed by it that she could do nothing but stand and stare at the blonde, unable to vocalize the thousand thoughts ripping through her mind or the volcanic eruption of emotions burning in her cells.

"Regina?" Emma asked softly, tentatively, after a few minutes of silence. "Regina, please say something…"

"Say it again," Regina blurted out, her eyes frantically searching Emma's own for that same sincerity she'd seen only moments earlier.

A slow grin spread Emma's lips as she suddenly felt confident and bold seeing that Regina wasn't rejecting her but was actively asking for more. She locked gazes with Regina and whispered, "I love you. I love you, Regina. I can say it as many times as you need to hear it to believe it. I love you. I love you. I lo—"

Regina's lips crashed into Emma's again, effectively muting the blonde's words. They pressed together fully, their lips doing a slow yet passionate dance that seemed so familiar and so comfortable that it shocked them both. It was as if they'd been doing it for years, and maybe in a way, they had. All either of them knew in that moment was that they never wanted to stop.

When the need for air forced them apart, Regina rested her forehead against Emma's and quietly whispered, "I want you, too."

"And?" Emma asked, still grinning like an idiot as she wound her arms around Regina's waist and pulled the woman impossibly closer.

Regina's instinct told her to roll her eyes in that moment, but she couldn't. She was too happy, too overwhelmed, too everything all at once…and all she wanted was to finally feel this—this joy, this closeness, this…love, and to return it in full.

"And I need you, too," Regina answered, a small smile slowly starting to form on her own lips.

"Aaaaand?" Emma playfully asked, drawing out the word teasingly as she squeezed Regina's waist and placed a gentle peck to her full lips.

"And…" Regina whispered, locking eyes with Emma and moving to cup a gentle hand around the blonde's cheek, "I love you, too."

Emma breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "Why the hell didn't we say that sooner?"

Regina couldn't help but laugh at that before answering, "We were too busy clawing each other's eyes out."

"You mean we were too busy eye-fucking each other and pretending like we hated it?" Emma asked, poking at Regina's sides playfully.

Regina only rolled her eyes at that and said, "We certainly know how to create a scene."

"That we do," Emma agreed, "but listen…no more fighting. I've gone six months without having you around, and it's been torture, and as much as I was actually starting to miss your biting insults and irresistibly sexy smirks, I'd much rather move on from the whole pretending we hate each other thing to pretending we love each other instead; well, without the pretending part, obviously."

"Very articulate, dear," Regina teased her.

"So will you come out now?" Emma asked her, her eyes pleading, and Regina just couldn't help herself.

She smirked at the blonde and asked, "Is that a lesbian quip? Are you saying I'm in the closet?"

Emma's cheeks flushed a bright red, but she quickly dissolved into a loud round of laughter. She pressed her lips to Regina's again and was delighted to feel the pressure returned without hesitation. When they parted again, Emma pressed another quick peck to Regina's lips and teased, "Only _you_ would have a closet the size of a mansion."

Regina just grinned wickedly and countered, "And only _you _would fall over a fence like an idiot to be in it with me."

"Can't argue with that," Emma said, laughing. They kissed again, and both women felt it all the way to their toes. It was explosive and beautiful and exciting and…right. It was exactly what both had wanted for longer than either could say, and neither planned on letting it go.

"So…" Emma said after a long time of just standing in Regina's garden, holding the brunette and kissing her and feeling her heart swell to the point of bursting, "will you?"

Regina sighed heavily, resting her forehead against Emma's again. "I'll think about it," she told the blonde, and Emma didn't argue, because well…she just wanted Regina to be happy, and though she knew that Regina would be happier with Henry in her life and not chained to the mansion like it was a prison anymore, she wasn't about to push Regina in any direction.

She respected her too much for that, and she loved her more and more every second.

Emma nodded her understanding before grabbing Regina's hand and pulling her toward the mansion. "So, tell me…what have you been up to all this time?"

Regina allowed herself to be pulled forward and through the open kitchen door as she honestly answered, "I watch a lot of _True Blood_."

"Oooh, naughty," Emma said, turning to waggle her eyebrows comically at the woman behind her. "Let me guess, Pam is your favorite character?"

"Oh dear, you know me so well," Regina quipped before dissolving into laughter and kicking the kitchen door closed behind them.

* * *

It had been a week and a half since Regina and Emma's shared kiss in the garden, and while Emma had spent quite a bit of time at the mansion since then, Regina still had yet to emerge from the place. So, the blonde was completely surprised when a knock sounded on the door of her loft and she slid it open to reveal Regina herself, standing there beautifully, looking shyly at her with a small smile gracing her lips.

Emma couldn't help the grin that erupted on her face as she took in the sight of her gorgeous girlfriend. "Best surprise ever!" she said playfully as she reached out and grabbed Regina's hand. She yanked her inside and pressed their lips fiercely together, both of them melting into each other with soft moans and sighs.

When they parted, Regina smiled at Emma and said, "That was quite a welcome."

"Well, you're quite a woman," Emma told her, waggling her eyebrows in that comical way that Regina found simultaneously amusing, annoying, and adorable. "So, what prompted this?" Emma asked her, her smile easily stretching to her eyes.

Regina nervously glanced around the loft, and Emma followed her eyes, realization sinking in and flooding excitement through her system. "You want to see Henry?" she asked the brunette, hopeful that she was right in her assumption.

She was. Regina smiled sadly at the blonde and nodded. Emma's smile only widened at that and she rushed to say, "He should be home any min—"

The loft door slid open before Emma could even finish her sentence and in walked Henry. He froze instantly as he took in the sight of the mother he hadn't seen in six months. Regina smiled tentatively at him but didn't say anything, and Henry didn't need her to. He stood frozen for only a minute before he was launching himself into Regina's stomach.

She caught him easily, only having to take a small step back to steady herself before she lowered herself to wrap her arms fully, tightly, desperately around the son she had missed every single day for what felt like years.

Emma watched mother and son embrace, tears springing into her eyes, and she couldn't wipe the smile from her face if she tried. She was just so happy to see them together again, to have all of them together at last.

"I'm so sorry, Mom," Henry cried into Regina's shoulder, his entire body shaking with his sobs. "I'm so sorry. I missed you so much. Please don't hate me."

Regina shushed and rocked him in her arms like only a mother could, and brushed a gentle hand through his hair while the other rubbed neat circles into his back. "Calm down, Henry. It's alright," she whispered quietly to him, pressing a tender kiss to his temple.

When Henry finally calmed down enough to breathe properly, he pulled back just enough to look into his mother's eyes, but he didn't let her go, afraid that she might disappear or that he might wake up and realize that he was only dreaming. "I missed you," he said again.

Regina smiled softly at him and reached up a hand to wipe away his tears and her own. "I missed you, too," she told him, pulling him in for another hug. She kissed the top of his head and whispered, "I could never hate you, Henry. I love you more than anything. I always have."

He only dissolved into sobs again at those words, clutching onto Regina tightly and refusing to let her go. She held him just as tightly and they stayed that way for a long time before Henry pulled back again and nervously said, "Can I…I want to come home, Mom. Can I please come home?"

Regina's heart ached madly at those words and she glanced over to Emma who had tears streaming down her cheeks. They locked gazes and Emma nodded eagerly at Regina. They shared a small smile before Regina turned back to her son and quietly said, "Yes, Henry. You can come home."

Henry launched himself into her arms again and Emma quietly left the room, allowing them some time to talk or just hold each other; whatever they needed.

* * *

A week later, once Henry was fully moved back into Regina's place, he, Regina, and Emma were having dinner together. It was one of the recipes that Regina had perfected while in seclusion, and both Emma and Henry were devouring it as if they hadn't eaten in years. Regina could only chuckle at them and remind them to breathe between bites. They talked and laughed and just enjoyed each other's company for as long as possible, moving on from dinner to a movie in the sitting room before Henry passed out on the couch, signifying that it was past his bedtime.

Regina and Emma put him to bed together before going back downstairs to watch an episode of _True Blood _together as Regina had completely roped Emma back into watching the show, and now they were both equally obsessed with it. As they lay on the couch together, Emma's head in Regina's lap and Regina's fingers running through her golden locks, Emma looked up at the woman she loved and felt nothing but pure joy flood her system.

"We're going to be a family, aren't we?" Emma asked quietly, pulling Regina's attention from the television. "You, me, and Henry…we're going to be a family, right?"

Regina looked down at Emma and smiled beautifully. She leaned down to place a soft kiss to the blonde's lips before gently whispering, "I hope so."


End file.
